Pinning machine and method

ABSTRACT

There is disclosed a pinning method and a pinning machine for carrying out the method. The pinning machine is of the type which has an anvil and a cooperable plunger, a hopper for receiving a stack of tags, a gate through which tags are fed one-at-a-time by a feeding mechanism to a pinning zone between the anvil and the plunger, and a mechanism for feeding a pin strip to a position in which a pin can be driven through the tag and merchandise at the pinning zone. The gate automatically adjusts to the position of the leading edge of the tag at the bottom of the stack, so that the leading edge is aligned with the gate opening.

United States Patent [191 Bussard et a1.

[ Dec. 9, 1975 PINNING MACHINE AND METHOD [73] Assignee: Monarch Marking Systems, Inc.,

Dayton, Ohio 221 Filed: Dec. 19, 1974 21 App1.No.:534,323

[52] US. Cl. 93/87; 93/88; 271/138; 271/167 [51] Int. Cl. B27F 7/06 [58] Field of Search 93/87, 88; 271/137, 138, 271/165, 167,121,124

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,559,828 7/1951 Ogden 93/88 X 2,991,075 7/1961 Wheeler et a1. 271/165 X 3,025,054 3/1962 Clemens et a1. 93/88 UX "mT l m Stephens et a1 93/87 X Salvade 271/165 Primary ExaminerGranville Y. Custer, Jr. Assistant ExaminerJames F. Coan Attorney, Agent, or Firm.1oseph J. Grass [57] ABSTRACT There is disclosed a pinning method and a pinning machine for carrying out the method. The pinning machine is of the type which has an anvil and a cooperable plunger, a hopper for receiving a stack of tags, a gate through which tags are fed one-at-a-time by a feeding mechanism to a pinning zone between the anvil and the plunger, and a mechanism for feeding a pin strip to a position in which a pin can be driven through the tag and merchandise at the pinning zone. The gate automatically adjusts to the position of the leading edge of the tag at the bottom of the stack, so that the leading edge is aligned with the gate opening.

15 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures Sheet 1 of 2 U8. Patent Dec. 9 1975 US. Patent Dec. 9 1975 Sheet 2 of2 3,924,523

PINNING MACHINE AND METHOD BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to the art of pinning methods and machines.

2. Brief Description of the Prior Art The following US. patents are made of record:

11.8. Patent No. latenlee Date 079,961 French Aug. (1, 1901 l,55),7ll7 Jones Nov. 3, 1925 1,971.96] Kohnle Aug. 28, 1934 3,035,054 (lenicns el :11 March 13. 1961 3,100,391 .lames Oct. 8, 1963 3,314,580 Parker April 18, 1967 3,357,618 Parker Dec. 12, 1967 3,709,420 (il'llSIltlll Jan. 9, 1973 Prior art pinning machines of the hopper type as shown in the Clemens et al., Parker and Grushon patents have a gate disposed at one end of the hopper so that the tags can be fed one-at-a-time through the gate opening or throat. The Kohnle patent shows a pinning machine which uses a tag roll supply. The remaining patents referred to above disclose sheet feeding mechanisms.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It has been found desirable to manufacture tags in roll form and to print and thereafter sever tags from the roll in the Model 104 printer manufactured by Monarch Marking Systems, Inc., Dayton, Ohio. Such a printer is disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,767,098 to Palmdie, granted Oct. 23, 1973. In that the tags are initially in roll form, the individual cut tags are slightly bowed. This is due to the set which the web of tags takes while in roll form. The bow extends in the longitudinal direction of the web. It has been found that when the tags are placed in the pinning machine hopper preparatory to pinning the tags onto merchandise, some of the tags tend to jam due to the fact that the leading edges of the tags do not align with the gate opening due to their bowed condition. The present invention overcomes this problem, in that the gate opening is always aligned with the leading edge of the bottom tag in the hopper. The method of the invention comprises sensing the position of the leading marginal end of the bottom tag in the stack, positioning a gate opening at the outfeed end of the hopper in alignment with the leading end of the bottom tag in accordance with the tag position sensed by the sensing means, feeding the bottom tag through the gate opening to the pinning zone, and driving a pin through the tag and merchandise between the die and the anvil to pin the tag to ther merchandise. In accordance with a specific embodiment of the machine, there is provided a pinning machine including an anvil and a cooperable plunger, a hopper for receiving a stack of tags, a gate at the outfeed end of the hopper, means for feeding one tag at a time through the gate to a pinning zone between the anvil and the plunger, means for receiving a pin strip, means for driving a pin through the tag and the merchandise at the pinning zone, and means for feeding the pin strip into cooperation with the pin driving means. The gate has a pair of gate elements spaced apart to provide a gate opening. The gate is movably mounted and there are means for urging the gate to a position where one of the gate elemcnts contacts and senses the bottom tag along the line of feed and preferably at the marginal leading edge and the leading edge of the bottom tag is aligned with the gate opening. There is also provided means for adjusting the gate opening which comprises a stepped member. The one gate element includes a sensor in the form of a land aligned with a gate opening. There is also provided means for urging the sensor into cooperation with the bottom tag. The other gate element has a face which extends generally perpendicularly to the direction of tag feed. A spacer is disposed adjacent the face of the other gate element for enabling the other gate element to move without encountering any substantial resistance in that the other gate element contacts only a small number of tags adjacent the bottom tag. A weight acting on the top tag in the stack has a guideway in cooperation with the spacer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a perspective view of basic components of a pinning machine in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a fragmentary portion of merchandise to which a tag has been pinned using the machine of the invention;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the gate structure of the pinning machine in detail;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view showing the hopper and gate structure of the pinning machine;

FIG. 5 is a front elevational view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a view taken generally along line 66 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a portion of the gate structure shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 7 but showing the gate structure in another position of adjustment.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken generally along line 99 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along line 10-10 of FIG. 9.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. I shows diagrammatically the major operating components of a pinning machine generally indicated at 20. The pinning machine 20 is provided with a reciprocating plunger 21, an anvil 21 with which the plunger 21 cooperates, a tag feeding mechanism generally indicated at 22, a pin feeding mechanism generally indicated at 23, and a conventional pin magazine generally indicated at 24. The machine 20 has an electric motor 25 which drives a speed reducer 25'. The speed reducer 25' has an output shaft 26 coupled to an input 27 of a single-revolution clutch generally indicated at 28. The output 29 of the clutch 28 drives a shaft 30 through one revolution each time the clutch 28 is engaged. A plate cam 31, barrel cam 32, and cam 33 are secured to the shaft 30. The cam 31 drives a roller follower 34 carried by a bell crank 35. The bell crank 35 is pivotally mounted on a fixed pivot 36. As the shaft 30 and the cam 31 rotate, the cam 31 causes the bell crank 35 to pivot clockwise (FIG. 1) to raise the plunger 21 and thereafter to pivot counterclockwise to lower the plunger 21. The barrel cam 32 has a continuous cam groove 37 which receives a roller follower 38. The roller follower 38 is carried by an arm 39 pivotally mounted on a fixed pivot 40. An arm or extension 41 is adjustably secured to the arm 39 by a machine screw 42. The extension 41 is mounted by a pivot 43 carried by the arm 39. The screw 42 passes through an arcuate slot 41 in the arm 41 and is threadably received by the arm 39. The upper end of the arm 41 has a fork or yolk 41" secured to a slide 22b. The mechanism 22 is shown to have three feed fingers 44 which will feed tags T successively from the bottom of the stack S. The arm 41 drives the pin 22a which drives the slide 22b. The slide 22b is guided on a stationary guide 226. The slide 22b has a fork 22d which drives a pin 22e secured to a slide 22f. The slide 22f carries the feed fingers 44. As the shaft and the barrel cam 32 rotate, the arm 41 is pivoted first in the counterclockwise direction (FIG. 1) which will cause the slides 22b and 22f and the feed fingers 44 to move toward the pinning zone (generally to the left as viewed in FIG. 1). As the feed fingers 44 near the end of their feeding stroke, an actuator 49 carried by the slide 2219 of the tag feeding mechanism 22 will contact and drive the pin feeding mechanism 23 to cause the pin strip PS to advance so that the pin p is advanced to a pin receiving position D from which it can be driven through the tag T and merchandise M at the pinning zone. The maximum forward travel of the feed fingers 44 during its feeding stroke can be adjusted by loosening the screw 42 and pivoting the extension 41 through the desired angle relative to the arm 39 and thereupon tightening the screw 42. This will assure that the tag T will be fed to the proper position relative to the pinning zone. It is to be understood that, for purposes of the invention, any suitable mechanism can be employed to drive the pin through the tag and merchandise other than the ones illustrated in US. Pat. Nos. 1,971,963 and 3,314,580. As the barrel cam 32 continues to rotate, the arm 39 will be pivoted clockwise (FIG. 1) and the feed fingers 44 and the actuator 49 will be retracted to their initial positions. The cam 33 is mechanically coupled to the pin magazine 24 as indicated by line 30. The pin magazine 24 includes a pin driver 24' which is used to drive the pin p through the tag T and merchandise M. It is to be understood that other types of tag feeders can be used such as feed rolls.

The gate mechanism generally indicated at 50 in FIG. 1 is shown in detail in FIGS. 3 through 10. With reference to FIG. 3, there is shown a mounting block 51 which is mounted to a frame member 52 by screws 53 threadably received in threaded holes 54. A pivot screw 55 is threadably received in the block 51 and its pivot pin section 56 is received in a hole 57 in the frame member 52. The frame member 52 has a cutout 58 which is open at its lower end. A depending extension 59 defines one side of the cutout 58. The pivot pin sec tion 56 passes through holes 60 and 61 in respective gate members indicated generally at 62 and 63. The gate member 62 has generally parallel portions 64 and 65 joined by an inclined portion 66. A gate element 67 is shown to depend from the portion 65. An upwardly extending portion 68 is joined to the portion 65. A bearing 69 is secured at right angles to the portion 68. The gate member 63 is shown to be generally flat and to have upstanding portions 70 and 71 joined by a connecting portion 72. The hole 61 extends through the gate member 63 at a transition portion 73 between the portions 70 and 72. The transition portion 73 is disposed in the cutout 58. and the portion 64 of gate mem ber 62 is disposed between the block 51 and extension 59. and the respective members 63 and 62 can pivot about pivot pin section 56. The connecting portion 72 carries gate element 74 having an integrally formed sensor 90. The portion 71 has a pair of elongated slots 75 extending lengthwise of the portion 71. An adjusting device generally indicated at 76 is mounted on the portion 71. The device 76 includes a block 77 having threaded holes 78. Screws 79 which pass through slots 75 are threadably received in the holes 78. By this arrangement the block 77 can be adjusted relative to the portion 71 of the gate member 63. The block has a cutout 80 having a bearing surface 81. The block also has a recess 82 for receiving a compression spring 83. The portion 68 is slidably received in a groove 68' in the block 77. The spring 83 bottoms in the recess 82 and bears against the bearing 69. A stepped adjusting member generally indicated at 84 has a manually graspable knob 85, a stepped portion 86 received in the cutout 80 and bearing against surface 81, and a mounting portion 87 rotatably received in the bearing 69. The steppedportion 86 is illustrated as having six faces or steps 860 through 86f, as best seen in FIG. 10. The stepped portion 86 is eccentric relative to the mounting portion 87'. Accordingly, rotation of the knob 85 brings a different face 86a through 86f into contact with the surface 81. This results in a change in the spacing of gate elements 67 and 74 and hence a change in the gate opening or throat 87. FIG. 7 shows the stepped portion 86d in contact with surface 81 and FIG. 8 shows the stepped portion 86a in contact with the surface 81. Thus, the gate opening 87 is wider in the position shown in FIG. 8 than in FIG. 7. The knob 85 is used as an operator adjustment to adjust the gate opening 87 as is desirable when changing from one tag thickness to a different tag thickness. The screws 79 are used to adjust the gate opening to the optimum during manufacture of the machine and subsequentially to compensate for wear. The spring 83 enables the gate members 62 and 63 to move relative to each other when the knob 85 is turned and urges the selected face 86a through 86f against the surface 81. It is apparent from FIG. 5 that the gate members 62 and 63 are pivotal as a unit about pivot pin portion 56. A spring 88 received in a recess 89 in the member 52 urges the gate member 63 and hence also the gate member 62 in counterclockwise direction. The spring 88 is relatively weak but it is strong enough to bring the sensor 90 associated with the gate element 74 into contact with the leading marginal edge of the bottom tag T in the stack S. Thus, the leading edge of the tag T will always be aligned with the gate opening 87. It is preferred that the face 74' of the gate element 74 and of the adjacent sensor 90 extend generally perpendicularly relative to face 103 of the gate element 67. It is also preferred to have the gate opening be relatively short so faces 67' and 74' are made relatively short as measured horizontally in FIGS. 7 and 8. The sloping sides of the gate elements 67 and 74 indicated respectively at 91 and 92 meet the respective faces 67' and 74'.

A spacer 93 having a pair of depending projections 94 is secured to the block 51 by screws 95 received in threaded holes 96 (FIG. 3). The portion 65 of the gate member 62 is disposed between the block 51 and the spacer 93 (FIG. 6). The spacer 93 and its projections keep most of the tags T in the stack S out of contact with the gate element 67 so that the gate element 67 does not meet undue resistance to pivoting under the action of the spring 88. A suitable weight can be provided instead of the spring 88 if desired to urge the gate element 74 into contact with the bottom tag T in the stack S.

A weight 97 is received by a post 98 secured to the floor of the hopper H at any one of the threaded holes 98a through 98d. In the illustration of FIG. 4, the post 98 is in the position so that the trailing edge of the shortest length tags are prevented from being moved rearwardly when the feed fingers 44 are retracted. For longer tags the post 98 is threaded into corresponding holes 98b, 980 or 98d. The weight has a groove 100 in which spacer 93 is received. Thus, the post 98 and the grooves 100 and the cooperable spacer 93 tend to cause the weight 97 to move in a straight line as the stack S is depleted upon feeding of tags T out of the bottom of the hopper H.

In that the tags T tend to bow as indicated in FIG. 5, it is preferred that the bottom tag T rest on rails 101, 101' and 101". The rail 101 extends from substantially the entire length of the hopper H so that the part of bottom tag T which is immediately upstream of the gate elements 67 and 74 will be generally aligned with the gate opening 87. In that the sensor 90 which is formed integrally with the face 74' can meet the bottom of the leading marginal edge of the bottom tag T, the gate opening 87 will align with the leading edge of the bottom tag even though the degree of bow may differ from tag-to-tag. The weight 97 does however assist in urging the bottom tag against rails 101, 101' and 101".

It has been found preferable that the face 103 of the gate element 67 be generally perpendicular to the direction of tag feed; the direction of tag feed in FIG. 6 being from right to left.

Other embodiments and modifications of this invention will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art, and all such of these as come within the spirit of this invention are included within its scope as best defined by the appended claims.

We claim:

1. Method of pinning tags to merchandise, which method is practiced in a pinning machine having an anvil and a cooperable plunger, a hopper for receiving a stack of tags, means for feeding one tag at a time to a pinning zone between the anvil and the plunger, means for driving a pin through the tag and the merchandise at the pinning zone, comprising the steps of: sensing the position of the leading marginal end of the bottom tag in the stack, positioning a gate opening at the out feed end of the hopper in alignment with the leading end of the bottom tag in accordance with the tag position sensed by the sensing means, feeding the bottom tag through the gate opening to the pinning zone and driving a pin through the tag and merchandise between the die and the anvil to pin the tag to the merehandise.

2. A pinning machine for pinning tags to merchandise, comprising: an anvil, a plunger cooperable with the anvil, a hopper for receiving a stack of tags, a gate at the outfeed end of the hopper, means for feeding one tag at a time through the gate to a pinning zone between the anvil and the plunger, means for receiving a pin strip, means for driving a pin through the tag and the merchandise at the pinning zone. means for feeding the pin strip into cooperation with the pin driving means, the gate having a pair of gate elements spaced apart to provide a gate opening, means for movably mounting the gate, and means for urging the gate to a position where one of the gate elements contacts the marginal leading end of the bottom tag in the stack so that the leading edge of the bottom tag is aligned with the gate opening.

3. A pinning machine as defined in claim 2, including means for adjusting the gate opening.

4. A pinning machine as defined in claim 2, wherein the mounting means comprises a pivot.

5. A pinning machine as defined in claim 2, wherein the other of the gate elements has a face extending generally perpendicularly to the direction of tag feed.

6. A pinning machine as defined in claim 2, wherein the other of the gate elements has a face extending generally perpendicularly to the direction of tag feed, and a spacer disposed adjacent the face of the other gate element for enabling the other gate element to move without encountering any substantial resistance in that the other gate element contacts only a small number of tags adjacent the bottom tag.

7. A pinning machine as defined in claim 2, wherein the other of the gate elements has a face extending gen erally perpendicularly to the direction of tag feed, a spacer disposed adjacent the face of the other gate element for enabling the gate to move without encountering any substantial resistance in that the other gate element contacts only a small number of tags adjacent the bottom tag, and a weight acting on the top tag in the stack and having a guideway cooperable with the spacer.

8. A pinning machine as defined in claim 2, wherein the urging means comprises a spring.

9. A pinning machine as defined in claim 2, and a stepped member operatively connecting the gate members for adjusting the gate opening.

10. A pinning machine as defined in claim 2, wherein the one gate element includes a platform aligned with the gate opening, and wherein the urging means urges the platform into contact. with the marginal leading edge of the bottom tag.

11. A pinning machine for pinning tags to merchandise, comprising: an anvil, a plunger cooperable with the anvil, a hopper for receiving .a stack of tags, a gate at the outfeed end of the hopper, means for feeding one tag at a time through the gate to a pinning zone between the anvil and the plunger, means for receiving a pin strip, means for driving a pin through the tag and the merchandise at the pinning zone, means for feeding the pin strip into cooperation with the pin driving means, the gate having a pair of gate elements spaced apart to provide a gate opening, one of the gate elements having a platform aligned with the gate opening for contacting the marginal leading end of the bottom tag in the stack, means for movably mounting the gate, and means for urging the gate to a position where the platform contacts the marginal leading end of the bottom tag in the stack so that the leading edge of the bottom tag is aligned with the gate opening.

12. A pinning machine as defined in claim 11, wherein the other of the gate elements has face extending generally perpendicularly to the direction of tag feed.

13. A pinning machine as defined in claim 11, wherein the urging means comprises a spring.

14. A pinning machine for pinning tags to merchandise, comprising: an anvil, a plunger cooperable with the anvil, a hopper for receiving a stack of tags. a gate at the outfeed end of the hopper, means for feeding one tag at a time through the gate to a pinning zone be tween the anvil and the plunger, means for receiving a pin strip, means for driving a pin through the tag and 8 tag in the stack, means for pivotally mounting the first and second gate members as a unit, and means for urging the platform of the first gate element into contact with the bottom tag.

[5. A pinning machine as defined in claim 14, wherein the other of the gate elements has a face extending generally perpendicularly to the direction of tag feed.

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION PATENT N0. ,523

DATED December 9 1975 v 0 (5) Charles B. Bussard et al It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 1, line 12, "Date" should be over the respective column of patent dates- Column 5, line 52, "die" should be --plunger--.

Signed and Scaled this Sixth Day Of December 1977 [SEAL] r Arrest: 5

Q RUTH C. MASON LUTRELLE F. PARKER Arresting Officer Acting Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks 

1. Method of pinning tags to merchandise, which method is practiced in a pinning machine having an anvil and a cooperable plunger, a hopper for receiving a stack of tags, means for feeding one tag at a time to a pinning zone between the anvil and the plunger, means for driving a pin through the tag and the merchandise at the pinning zone, comprising the steps of: sensing the position of the leading marginal end of the bottom tag in the stack, positioning a gate opening at the out feed end of the hopper in alignment with the leading end of the bottom tag in accordance with the tag position sensed by the sensing means, feeding the bottom tag through the gate opening to the pinning zone and driving a pin through the tag and merchandise between the die and the anvil to pin the tag to the merchandise.
 2. A pinning machine for pinning tags to merchandise, comprising: an anvil, a plunger cooperable with the anvil, a hopper for receiving a stack of tags, a gate at the outfeed end of the hopper, means for feeding one tag at a time through the gate to a pinning zone between the anvil and the plunger, means for receiving a pin strip, means for driving a pin through the tag and the merchandise at the pinning zone, means for feeding the pin strip into cooperation with the pin driving means, the gate having a pair of gate elements spaced apart to provide a gate opening, means for movably mounting the gate, and means for urging the gate to a position where one of the gate elements contacts the marginal leading end of the bottom tag in the stack so that the leading edge of the bottom tag is aligned with the gate opening.
 3. A pinning machine as defined in claim 2, including means for adjusting the gate opening.
 4. A pinning machine as defined in claim 2, wherein the mounting means comprises a pivot.
 5. A pinning machine as defined in claim 2, wherein the other of the gate elements has a face extending generally perpendicularly to the direction of tag feed.
 6. A pinning machine as defined in claim 2, wherein the other of the gate elements has a face extending generally perpendicularly to the direction of tag feed, and a spacer disposed adjacent the face of the other gate element for enabling the other gate element to move without encountering any substantial resistance in that the other gate element contacts only a small number of tags adjacent the bottom tag.
 7. A pinning machine as defined in claim 2, wherein the other of the gate elements has a face extending generally perpendicularly to the direction of tag feed, a spacer disposed adjacent the face of the other gate element for enabling the gate to move without encountering any substantial resistance in that the other gate element contacts only a small number of tags adjacent the bottom tag, and a weight acting on the top tag in the stack and having a guideway cooperable with the spacer.
 8. A pinning machine as defined in claim 2, wherein the urging means comprises a spring.
 9. A pinning machine as defined in claim 2, and a stepped member operatively connecting the gate members for adjusting the gate opening.
 10. A pinning machine as defined in claim 2, wherein the one gate element includes a platform aligned with the gate opening, and wherein the urging means urges the platform into contact with the marginal leading edge of the bottom tag.
 11. A pinning machine for pinning tags to merchandise, comprising: an anvil, a plunger cooperable with the anvil, a hopper for receiving a stack of tags, a gate at the outfeed end of the hopper, means for feeding one tag at a time through the gate to a pinning zone between the anvil and the plunger, means for receiving a pin strip, means for driving a pin through the tag and the merchandise at the pinning zone, means for feeding the pin strip into cooperation with the pin driving means, the gate having a pair of gate elements spaced apart to provide a gate opening, one of the gate elements having a platform aligned with the gate opening for contacting the marginal leading end of the bottom tag in the stack, means for movably mounting the gate, and means for urging the gate to a position where the platform contacts the marginal leading end of the bottom tag in the stack so that the leading edge of the bottom tag is aligned with the gate opening.
 12. A pinning machine as defined in claim 11, wherein the other of the gate elements has face extending generally perpendicularly to the direction of tag feed.
 13. A pinning machine as defined in claim 11, wherein the urging means comprises a spring.
 14. A pinning machine for pinning tags to merchandise, comprising: an anvil, a plunger cooperable with the anvil, a hopper for receiving a stack of tags, a gate at the outfeed end of the hopper, means for feeding one tag at a time through the gate to a pinning zone between the anvil and the plunger, means for receiving a pin strip, means for driving a pin through the tag and the merchandise at the pinning zone, means for feeding the pin strip into cooperation with the pin driving means, the gate comprising first and second gate members having respective first and second gate elements, means for adjusting the position of the gate members relative to each other to adjust a gate opening defined by the first and second gate elements, the first gate element having a platform aligned with the gate opening for contacting the leading marginal edge of the bottom tag in the stack, means for pivotally mounting the first and second gate members as a unit, and means for urging the platform of the first gate element into contact with the bottom tag.
 15. A pinning machine as defined in claim 14, wherein the other of the gate elements has a face extending generally perpendicularly to the direction of tag feed. 